US actress Shelley Duvall, star of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and seven films by Robert Altman, has died at the age of 75.
Duvall died in her sleep at her home in Blanco Texas, of complications from diabetes, according to her life partner Dan Gilroy.
Born in Fort Worth, Texas in 1949, Duvall got her start in the film industry after meeting Robert Altman at a party in 1970 while he was shooting Brewster McCloud. Altman cast Duvall in the film as a tour guide; and went on to direct her in six further films, including 1971’s McCabe & Mrs Miller, 1974’s Thieves like Us, and as groupie L.A. Joan in 1975’s Nashville.
Duvall is best known for her role as suffering wife Wendy Torrance opposite Jack Nicholson’s deranged caretaker Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Shining. Duvall participated in a 13-month shoot in England for the film, telling People magazine in 1981 that she was “crying 12 hours a day for weeks on end” during the shoot and would not go through such a process again.
Her other memorable roles included a rock journalist in Woody Allen’s 1977 Annie Hall; in Terry Gilliam’s 1981 Time Bandits; and as Olive Oyl, love interest to the titular character in Altman’s Popeye.
Duvall spent two decades away from acting after the millennium, before returning with what was ultimately her final role, as Mama in Scott Goldberg’s horror The Forest Hills.
She also ran production company Think Entertainment, which launched in 1987 and produced of television films including Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme and Backfield In Motion
She is survived by her brothers Scott, Stewart and Shane.
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